'The High Game': a Lutyens Conference in Cambridge

Last weekend the Ax:son Johnson Centre for the Study of Classical Architecture ran a highly interesting and enjoyable conference at Downing College, examining what Edwin Lutyens called the 'High Game' of classical architecture. I was lucky enough to stay with good friends who live in Cambridge, the respected architectural historian Jeremy Musson and his wife Sophie.

The conference was a feast for Lutyens enthusiasts, with papers covering everything from his little-known student works dating from the 1880s, through to how he dealt with (sometimes eccentric) clients, and concluding with a rousing commentary on the post WW2 survival of classical architecture given by John Simpson.

The Keynote address by Craig Hamilton was a characteristically thoughtful examination of Lutyens's particular take on the Classcial and what is still has to teach us today.

With many delegates from the Lutyens Trust and Lutyens Trust America, the conference was diverse and thought-provoking. I never cease to be amazed at the depth, profundity and joyful humanity of Lutyens's work, which came across strongly through the weekend. The Lutyens Trust is a small charity that exists to protect the spirit and substance of Lutyens's legacy: join them!